Software Quality Engineering

MANAGING SOFTWARE QUALITY IN AN ORGANIZATION

Quality Management System QMS
Lecture 6
By
Engr. Sumaira Nazir
 Quality Management System
• Quality Management System (QMS)
– Term used internationally
– Describe a process which ensures and
demonstrates the quality of the products and
services provided by an organization.
– Set of Procedures/Processes which form basis for
executing organization’s product/service delivery
mechanisms.
Quality Management System Cont..
• Term “Quality System” sometimes used instead
of Quality Management System
• ISO 9001:2000 specifies requirements for QMS
– Needs to demonstrate its ability to consistently
provide the product that meets customer and
applicable regulatory requirements and
– Aims to enhance customer satisfaction through the
effective application of the system, including
processes for continual improvement of the system
and the assurance of conformity to customer and
applicable regulatory requirements.
Quality Management System Cont..
• The quality management system(QMS) in an
organization emphasizes on the need of the
quality process to be actively managed to ensure
that it continues to be effective and efficient.
– By keeping their Practices and Tools under constant
review and make change in controlled way.
• This helps to ensure that the QMS is effective in
the face of continuously changing business
environment.
Quality Management System Cont..
• In the QMS employees need to be properly
trained (awareness) to use QMS (Training plays
important part in quality related activities)
• Quality Professional should have mindset and
skills for imparting training within his area of
responsibility
• QMS must ensure that employees
– have the right skills to do their jobs professionally (If
not, then train them)
– understand their responsibilities and how their work
relates to others.
Quality Management System Cont..
• Successful QMS gives great emphasis to early
corrective action
– Much cheaper for software developer to correct
errors early in development life cycle.
– Error might cost the customer much more than it
costs the developer.
– Quality Control activities (Inspection, Training) to be
built at every stage to detect errors as early as
possible before moving to next stage
– Find root cause of an error and make action plan to
prevent it (Root Cause Analysis).
Quality Management System Cont..
• QMS must assure customer and developers
that software products and services
developed by adhering to the QMS will be of
good quality.
• QMS should be auditable
– Development process must be well documented.
– Quality records including suitable measurements
must be generated throughout software
development process.
Quality Management System Cont..
• Quality Record is a record kept as a part of
QMS.
• Quality Record:
– Is a document which furnishes objective evidence
of activities performed or result achieved.
– For example; Review Record of Project Plan, Code
Review Results, Test Execution Report etc
– Helps demonstrate the achievement of quality
and effective operation of QMS.
Quality Management System Cont..
• ISO 9001:2000 General requirements from
QMS
• Organization shall
– Establish, Document, Implement and Maintain a
QMS
– And Continually improve effectiveness of QMS
Quality Management System Cont..
• In particular, ISO requires that the organization shall
– Identify the processes needed for the quality management
system and their application throughout the organization
– Determine the sequence and interaction of these
processes.
– Determine criteria and methods needed to ensure that
both the operation and control of these processes are
effective.
– Ensure the availability of recourses and information
necessary to support the operation and monitoring of
these processes.
– Monitor, measure and analyze these processes, and
– Implement actions necessary to achieve planned results
and continual improvement of these processes.
Quality Management System Cont..
• QMS is a set of Procedures
– Procedures are at the heart of Quality System
– They tell staff how to follow a Quality System day to
day in their work
• QMS is a Management’s means to establish a
uniform and consistent approach to product
realization/providing services
• QMS is a Complete Work Process
– Including Policies, Procedures, Tools and Resources
Quality Management System Cont..
 Quality Policy
• A document that states the overall intensions and
direction of an organization with regard to quality
as formally expressed by top management
• Top Management should begin quality program
by forming a Quality Policy
• Should be a clear statement of
– Organization’s commitment to quality
– Management expectations of Quality Program
• It should be published and communicated to the
employees so that it is understood and
implemented at all levels in organization.
 Quality Policy Cont…
• Clause 5.3 of ISO 9001:2000
• Top Management shall ensure that quality policy
– Is appropriate to the purpose of organization (Suitable
for the business conducted by organization)
– Includes a commitment to comply with requirements
and to continually improve the effectiveness of the
QMS
– Provides a framework for establishing and reviewing
quality objectives
– Is communicated and understood within organization
– Is reviewed for continuing suitability
 Quality Manual
• Begins with Vision and Mission Statement of
organization, committing itself to Quality.
• The quality manual begins with the Vision
statement. Vision statement is followed by the
Mission statement.
– Vision Statement:
• Vision statement defines the vision of the organization
• For Example:
– “To be the leader and most respected e-Solutions Company in
Pakistan” OR
– “Providing best of the breed CRM solutions to our customers”
 Quality Manual Cont…
– Mission Statement:
• The mission statement extends the vision of the
organization
• For Example:
– We are in the business of Providing Value to our customer
through CRM solutions with commitment to quality of
solutions providing. Making our organization a winner in the
Global e-Business Market with solutions that are cost effective
and with requisite quality”
 Quality Manual Cont…
• The typical contents of the quality manual are as follows:
– Introduction (Purpose, Definitions, References)
– Organizational structure – various roles for software delivery
Project Management structure, structure of the quality group
along with the descriptions of various sub-groups within it such
as
• Process Engineering Group (PEG)
• Software Quality Assurance (SQA)
• Measurement Assurance (MA)
• Defect Prevention (DP)
• Technology Change Management Group (TCMG)
• Quality System Requirements (Quality Policy, Quality System
Procedures, Approach to Quality Planning along with Quality
Objectives)
• Software product/services realization mechanism deployed in the
organization.
 References
• Chapter 2 “ Managing Software Quality in an
Organization”
– Software Quality Assurance: Principles and
Practice (Hardcover). By Nina S. Godbole,
published by Alpha Science, 2004